The Thailand-based Siam Commercial Bank has responded to a letter from a customer who recently raised concerns about a new fee that will be implemented beginning Feb. 1.

Edward Tan, who indicated that he is a Singaporean banker who visits Thailand often, pointed to the difference between Thai banks and Singaporean banks, saying that SCB and other banks in Thailand charge an issuance fee of between $3.36 and $6.71 and an annual fee of between $6.71 and $8.39, according to The Nation.

Tan also said that while Singaporean banks allow 90 free ATM uses per month as long as the customer maintains a minimum balance, Thai banks generally only allow four free ATM uses per month.dora bounce house on sale

“So, do Singaporean banks not face the operating fees that SCB seems to emphasize?” Tan said, The Nation reports. “Of course they do. The difference is that Singaporean banks choose not to pass on these costs to their customers. As far as Thai banks, I suspect they simply want to maximize non-interest income at the expense of their customers.”

Wattanee Somchit, the manager of corporate communications at SCB, responded to Tan’s letter to explain why it would begin charging the fee as announced last month.

“To ensure that our customers are never far from an ATM location, SCB spends a considerable amount of money maintaining and expanding the largest ATM network in Thailand, in over 8,000 locations,” Somchit said, according to The Nation. “While the new fee may be a small annoyance, it will ensure that our customers enjoy the convenience of never being very far from an SCB ATM machine, and allow the bank to further expand our ATM services.”